Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Shining Stars

Troll Hunters by Michael Dahl

* Provided by the publisher for review



4 out of 5 gnomes

This is a middle grade novel that packs quite a punch.  From just seeing the cover you know that you’re in for quite an adventure. The illustrations in the book done by Ben Kovar truly bring the story to life and enhance the story greatly.

The story is told in multiple perspectives which does help the story along. These points of view let you know exactly what’s going on even when the characters are still in the dark.  Considering the ending though I wish that there was more from a certain character’s perspective.

The mythology of the world is very well done.  This is the first time I think I’ve seen trolls as being scary creatures and you know not as just having big hair and jewels in their bellies.  The powers that the kids discover are also intriguing because of how different each power is and the potential that there is to have a plethora of new heroes too.  Let’s just say that if you like mythology or astrology then you’ll probably want to read this book.  

Dr. Hoo is the mysterious mentor of the story who just kind of storms into the kid’s lives.  What the kids find out from him changes everything. You slowly learn more about him and see what his motivation for fighting the war is.  I think there’s a whole lot more to learn about him and that his history will be of great importance.

All the kids are relatable and have some big personalities.  I think my favorite character out of all the kids is Louise.  She seems the most fun and has the coolest power in my opinion.   

The war against the trolls is brutal and full of surprises.  I like the many different enemies that they have.  Having the whole town in danger and the trolls being almost unstoppable makes for a really entertaining read.

The ending was rather unexpected, I didn’t expect the book to go to such a dark place.  It all made sense though in the whole grand scheme of them all being heroes.  I just of course wish that the ending was more upbeat.

This is the start to a very promising looking series and it’ll be interesting to see what the author does next.



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